HOULTON, Maine — After a two-year break, the Southern Aroostook Trade Show hopes to make a triumphant return.
Scheduled for Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10, at the Millar Civic Center, this year’s trade show will feature a variety of vendors aimed at home improvement, spring decor and much more.
Vendors will include some of the latest products for flowers and gardening, as well as hot tubs, tractors, pellet stoves and storage sheds.
In 2021, organizers twice postponed the event in the hopes that COVID-19 transmission would be on the decline. The show was originally scheduled for its April time slot, but pushed back to October. The show was then ultimately canceled altogether.
“We are a little light on vendors, but they are starting to come in more and more each day,” explained Jane Torres, executive director for the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, which is the show’s sponsor. “I think canceling it two years in a row really hurt us. People wondered if we were ever going to have it again.”
She added that many business owners said they were simply “too light” on employees to spare having someone at the trade show, rather than working in their stores.
“People are saying they would love to come, but they just don’t have anyone to spare,” she said.
To combat that trend, Torres said she has been offering larger booths at the trade show for smaller prices in the hopes that it will encourage vendors to bring more products.
Under ideal conditions, the Houlton show typically attracts between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees over the two-day period, depending on the weather. In 2019, the event featured 45 different vendors at the Millar Civic Center.
“We want people to come,” she said. “We want the community to know that some of these businesses have really been struggling just to keep their places open.”
The cost to attend the trade show is $3, but a discount coupon will be featured in the Houlton Pioneer Times that allows people to gain access for just $1.
